Karnataka High Court Declines To Quash Defamation Case Against Man Who Created Fake Social Media Account In Name Of Sister-In-Law

The Karnataka High Court has declined to quash a defamation case against a man registered by his estranged sister-in-law alleging that he defamed her by impersonating as her via a fake social media account.

The Court was considering a Petition seeking to quash a case registered for alleged offences punishable under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 66 (c), 66(d) and 67(A) of the Information Technology Act.

The Bench of Justice M.I. Arun observed, "....Based on the sworn statement and the material produced, the trial court has come to the conclusion that prima facie, a fake social media account has been created in the name of the respondent and there are certain other fake social media accounts, which are created carrying defamatory statement against the respondent and has decided to frame charge against the petitioner as aforementioned. I do not see any error in the same."

The Petitioner was represented by Advocate Shridharamurthy H.R., while the Respondent was represented by Advocate Shireesha S.

Facts of the Case

The Respondent was the estranged sister-in-law of the Petitioner, married to his brother. The allegation made by her was that on account of the matrimonial dispute, the Petitioner has been harassing her and defaming her, by way of creating fake social media accounts. It was alleged that one such account was created as though it belongs to the Respondent and she is portrayed as a call girl looking for men.

It was further alleged that in some other accounts, identity of the account holder is not revealed and a lot of defamatory messages are mentioned. It was submitted that the said social media accounts are not private in nature and any random person can view it thereby giving the content a wide degree of publicity. A Complaint under Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code was registered and the Trial Court took cognizance of the offences.

Reasoning By Court

The Court at the outset remarked that the allegations if proved against the Petitioner, will be considered as defamatory in character.

".......creation of a fake social media account in the name of the respondent does amount to an offence under Section 66C of the IT Act....", the Court held.

The Petition was accordingly dismissed.

Cause Title: Sri. Pramod Shivashankar v. Smt. Vaishnavi (2025:KHC:43611)

Appearances: 

Petitioner- Advocate Shridharamurthy H.R.

Respondent- Advocates Shireesha S. and K.N. Subba Reddy 

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